Deep Water

Deep Water
-By William O Douglas
About the Author

William Orville Douglas(1898— 1980) was an American jurist and politician who
served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Douglas was confirmed at the age of
40, as one of the youngest justices appointed to the Supreme Court. His term,
lasting 36 years and 209 days (1939 — 75), is the longest term in the history of the
Supreme Court.
Theme
The author William Douglas talks about his fear of water and how he finally
overcame it. He narrates an autobiographical incident that occurred when he was
ten or eleven years old and almost drowned in the Y.M.C.A swimming pool. As a
result, he developed a fear of water, which he was able to conquer after several
years of sheer determination.
Justification of Title
This extract is appropriately entitled “Deep Water”. The author recounts his fear of
swimming following an incident in which he had been swept away by a wave.
Another incident which further aggravated his fear was when a bully pushed him
into the deep side of a swimming pool and he nearly drowned. But slowly he
overcame his fear through determination and strong will. He even took the services
of an instructor. He swam in different pools and lakes to overcome his fear. The title
also signifies that the author’s fear was a deep-rooted one. In short, the title is
appropriate.
Message
The story “Deep Water” tells us how the writer overcame his fear of water and
learned swimming through sheer determination and willpower. He had
developed a terror of water since childhood. William Douglas was able to overcome
his fear by sheer determination. The message conveyed by this story is that it is not
death but the fear of death that creates terror in our mind, so that fear needs
to be shaken off. Also, any fears can be conquered if we try hard enough .
VALUES RAISED
Determination, optimism, perseverance, diligence, openness to
challenges, courage, persistence, endurance etc.
CHAPTER NUTSHELL
William Douglas talks about his fear of water and thereafter, how he finally
overcame it. The autobiographical element in the lesson is used to support his
discussion of fear.
Author’s Aversion to Water-
1. started when he was three or four years old.
2. visited a beach in California with his father/stood with his father in the surf.
3. the waves knocked him down and swept over him.
4. he was buried in water/breath was gone/frightened.
5. father laughed as he held Douglas’ hand
6. there was the terror in his heart at the overpowering force of the waves.
`Misadventure’ at the YMCA
1. the author was sitting on the side of the pool.
2. a big bruiser of a boy tossed him at the deep end of the pool.
3. the author landed in a sitting position, swallowed water, and went at once to
the bottom.
4. the author was frightened.
First attempt:
1. it seemed s long way down
2. lungs ready to burst
3. makes a strategy to hit the surface & come up like a cork
4. didn’t come up as fast-grew panicky
5. felt suffocated
Second attempt:
1. lost breath
2. lungs pained, head throbbed & felt dizzy
3. uses the same strategy
4. felt terrorised & paralysed
5. only pounding in head confirmed he was live
Third attempt:
1. gave up the effort
2. blackness-wiped fear and terror
3. felt quiet and peaceful like mother’s tender arms
4. passed into oblivion (line between life and death)
Its Impact:
1. he was weak and trembling
2. shook and cried when he lay on his bed
3. couldn’t eat that night.
4. for days a haunting fear remained in his heart.
5. the slightest exertion upset him and made him wobbly in the knees and sick in
the stomach.
6. never went back to the pool.
Subsequent effects:
1. the fear remained when he was in a river or pool/legs would become
paralysed.
2. icy horror would grab his heart.
3. deprived Douglas of enjoying water sport-ruined his fishing trips/ deprived him
of the joy of boating & canoeing
4. went in canoes on Maine lakes fishing for landlocked salmons, bass fishing in
New Hampshire, trout fishing on the Deschutes and Metolius in Oregon,
fishing for salmon on the Columbia, at Bumping Lake in the Cascades but
fear of water followed him.
Conquering his fear:
1. engaged an instructor to learn swimming.
2. the instructor made him practice five days a week, an hour every day
3. put a belt around him.
4. a rope attached to the belt went through a pulley that ran on an overhead
cable.
5. instructor held on to the end of the rope.
6. the author went back and forth several times each day.
7. took three months to learn
8. instructor taught him to put his face under water and exhale
9. to raise his nose and inhale
10. instructor made him kick with his legs
11. thus piece by piece he finally learnt how to swim
12. though the author had learnt to swim, he still felt that the old fear would grip
him again.
13. Went to lake Wentworth-swam two miles across the lake.
14. swam the crawl, breaststroke, sidestroke and backstroke.
15. the old sensation returned in miniature.
16. then went up the Tieton to Conrad Meadows, up the Conrad Creek
Trail to Meade Glacier, and camped by the Warm Lake and swam across
to the other shore and back. He had finally conquered his fear.
Draws a larger meaning from this experience:
1. in death there is peace
2. there is terror only in the fear of death/as Roosevelt said “All we have to
fear is fear itself”
3. since the narrator had experienced both the sensation of dying and the terror
that fear of it can produce; the will to live grew in him.
CHARACTER SKETCH OF DOUGLAS

William Douglas leaves a very favourable impression on us. He appears quite
truthful and courageous. He gives a detailed account of his fears and emotions as
he struggles against deep water to save himself from being drowned. Confessing
one’s faults and shortcomings is not easy. It needs courage, honesty and will
power. Douglas has all these qualities. His efforts to overpower the fear of water
show his firm determination, resolution and strong will power. He has an
analytic mind which diagnoses the malady and prompts him to search the cure.
He is frightened of deep water, but not yet frightened out of his wits. In his heroic
struggle against fear, terror and panic, he rises to heroic stature. He becomes an
idol, a living image of bravery and persistent efforts . He typifies the will not
to surrender or yield. His indefatigable zeal is a source of inspiration for all and
especially for the youth. In short, William Douglas impresses us as a frank,
truthful, honest and determined person.

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-By William O Douglas

About the Author

CHARACTER SKETCH OF DOUGLAS

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